Fluid meter



W. H. G. FURNHVALL. ET M..

MHK?

FLUID METER Filed Jan. 28, 1.924.-v

Patented May 14, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

wrnmn my amm FUBNIVALI., Davrn nnn'rmi nqLABEN, AND man :meer maximaux, or .onnmmsnuna sou'rn AFRICA.

FLUID IETEB.

Application mea January as, 1924, serial no. 689,160, and in the mmm n: south um November 29, 1923.

swung by the flow of fluid away from the seat and into an unrestricted pipe area. This type of meter is very sensitive at low Hows but at high Hows the gate movements are inconveniently small in relation to changes of io How.

Another well known `type of meter is the orifice type in which the measurement of the How is derived from the difference of pressure produced by the How at the two sides of an orifice provided in the pipe. This type of meter is most sensitive at high Hows, but is unreliable at low Hows.

A purpose of the present invention is to provide a meter havin a pivoted gate as above described in whic the relationship of gate movement to How is usefully modified as compared with the ordinary gate meter.

A further purpose is toconstruct a meter combining the advantages of both the above mentioned types of meters, with the additional advantage of being able automatically to vary the aperture or orifice at different positions of the gate and thus to give accuracy at all rates of How up to within the limits for which the meter is designed.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. I is a vertical view, the greater part of which is sectioned on I-I Fig. II'.

Fig. II is a vertical section on II--II Fig. I.

Fig. III is a developed plan of the shield Fig. I.

Fig. IV is a view similar to Fig. I,showing a modification.

In the drawings 1 yindicates the meter casing providing a Huid passage 2. A gate 3 is pivoted at 4 to hang at no How against a seat 5. In the ordinary gate meter the Huid passage extends straight through the casing with the result that there is a great disproportion between the pressure which has to be exerted on the gate to hold it in slightly open position as compared with the pressure required to hold it raised. Flow being proport tionate to difference of pressure, equal incre* ments of flow at high How and low How respectively produce very nnequal gate movements. Accordingly the indicating hand 6 or other member which is operated by the gate is not as a ruleiactuated by the ate directl but through interposed mechaiigism whichyrelatively multiplies the gate movement at high How and is generally of intricate and deli! cate construction.

r According to this invention means are pro `vided ontlie outflow side of the gate to produce an orifice which is directly controlled by the gate; such means preferably comprising a shield 7 curved in the direction of the path 8 of the lower end 9 of the gate.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. I, II and III the shield extends over the entire passage on the outHow side of the ate. It also conforms closely to the path of t e lower edge of the gate so that leakage between said lower edge and the shield is su stantially prevented, the edge 9 conveniently being provided by a machined strip 10. The flow takes place through a slot 11 in the shield which is progressively uncovered as the gate swings up thus providing a variable orifice which can be so shaped as to give the most eiiicient results for various degrees of openin The general shape of the slot is governed by the desired eli'ect of the movement of the gate. The slot shown is designed to make the angular movement of the gate directly proportional to the How, and is of roughly inverted T shape with the head curving into the stem and the stem tapered from the head.

In the construction shown in Fig. IV the shield is not slotted, but curves away from the path of the edge of the gate; the orifice being that indicated by 12 between the edge 9 of the gate and the shield. In the example shown the orifice is equal at all points to that afforded by the slot l1 of Fig. III.

Applicants have computed the following general formula 4for calculating the area of the orifice at any position of the gate, which 1s necessary to cause the displacement, from zero, of the gate in that position, to be direct- 1y proportional to the How of Huid in that position, viz

A (oriiice area in square inches) J M 1 CE1/sin N In this expression M is the value,in degrees, of the actual angular displacement of the gate from its closed position. N is the value, in degrees, of the angular displacement of the centre of gravity of the gate from the which the centre of gravity of the gate is displaced from the Vertical line through the axis of the gate, when the gate is closed. Itwill be evident from the formula that the essential relationship between the area of the oritice and the angular displacement of the gate is that the area varies directly as angle M and inversely as the square root of sine N.

The factor c represents the co-eilicient of discharge for the orifice, and may usually be regarded as a constant. Actually its value varies slightly with the area of thc orifice; and when particular accuracy is necessary, it is dctermined experimentally.

The value of the factor J for the Fig. I construction is found by dividing the maximum desired flow of iiuid (measured, in the case of compressed air, in pounds per minute) by the maximum desiredydisplacement of the gate in degrees. The figure thus obtained multiplied byl- Q gives the value of J for the Fig. I construction.

K is a constant represented by the expression 2 gWLY K-\/ 144AD in which g=Acceleration due to gravity in feet per second per second.

\V=weight of gate in pounds.

L=distance in inches from centre of gate axis to the centre of gravity of the gate.

Y=the specific Weight in pounds per cubic foot, of the incoming fluid.

A=the area of the gate in square inches D=distance in inches from the centre of the gate axis to the centre of area of the gate.

The computation of the general formula (l) is given below; the symbols already explained being use, together with the follow- 1n p1g= fluid pressure at the incoming side of the gate in lbs. per square inch. h=p1 less the fluid pressure at the outgoing side of the gate in lbs. per square inch. Q-w-luid owing in'lbs. per second R=gas constant T=absolute temperature The known formula for flow through an orifice is cam/ 1%. 2)

but

lsigned above, so that the equation becomes From the known theory of the balance of couples there is derived LAD WL X sin N (4) from which magg-Exam 5) Substituting this value of h in equation (3) by the symbol K, as explained above, brings the equation to the form Q=Ac Kvsin N (7) But as it is a condition that the angle of movement M of the gate shall be proportional to the rate of How Q.

Equating the two values of Q from 7 and 8 then gives the general formula viz JM cKy/sin N.

The general equation (1) given above is applicable to either the Fig. I or the Fig. IV construction. From it the orifice areas corresponding to a number of different values of the angle of displacement, M, can be determined and thus the form of the whole orifice can be arrived at.

In practice it is more convenient to use modifications of this formula suitable for the specific form of the invention which is to be constructed. Thus in the Fig. IV form of the invention, the orifice is always a rectangle and its area is Bb, where Z) is the breadth and B is the width, both in inches. The expression BZ) may accordingly be equated to the general expression for area thus A area in square inches JM Bb l cKq/sin N (9) On dividing both sides by b, the equation becomes B JL MIG/m As the breadth of the orifice remains constant in this case, equation (10) gives the values of the varying width B, corresponding to different values of M. By calculating a number of values of B the proper curvature of the shield 7 in Fig. IV is arrived at.

In the case of the Fig. I construction, the variable to be calculated is the width t of the slot 11 for the different values of M. A n equation (15 below) for this urpose is obtained as follows, using a new actor F which represents the distance, in inches, from the axis .of the gate to the free edge of the same.

The general equation JM CE1/sin N (l).

is used, but for convenience of calculation the angles M and N are expressed in terms of arc to radius unity.

Diierentiating J d M Y Since l M :Vain NdM-Mdw/sin N d w/sin N `sin N an i dem N) Wm N-vsw formula (11) becomes .I 1A- ZCK mmm McQtNdN) (12) Since N (M -I- 0)and 0 is constant dN=JM (13) In terms of its width t andthe factor F,-

the area of the slot in Fig. I is given by .A ftFl'ZM so that dA tFdM (14) Combining equations 12, 13 and 14 and converting, so as to express M in degrees, gives `1f nl t(lnmches)2cFK1/IT 2 180 cot (15) By calculating the width t for a number of different angles M, the form of the slot 11 is obtained.

As a result ofthe above described constructions, an indicating hand 6 or the like may be secured directly to the gate pivot and co-operate with the dial 13, a chart or the like, the divisions of which are spaced equally or at least without inconvenient variation. More over if the gate movement is to be integrated,

Y`the construction of the integrating mechaproportionate to the angular displacement of the gate from its no iow position.

Signed at Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, Union o South Africa, this 19th day of December, 1923.

WILLIAM HENRY GRAHAM FURNIVALL.

DAVID BERTHA McLAREN.

EDGAR JACOB LASCHINGER. 

